Machine for applying upholstery cover material to a beaded base panel



' E. WOODBURN MACHINE FOR APPLYING UPI-IOLSTERY COVER MATERIAL TO A BEADED BASE PANEL 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 June 28, 1955 Filed Marph 24, 1954 1 INVENTOR.

. RALPH f. Woooauelv B Q 394 m ATTORNEY June 28, 1955 Filed March 24, ,1954

R; E. WOODBURN MACHINE FOR APPLYING UPHOLSTERY COVER MATERIAL TO A BEADED BASE PANEL 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. IPA LPH Woopaue/v Arrow/EX June 28, 1955 R. E. WOODBURN 2,711,776

MACHINE FOR APPLYING UPHOLSTERY COVER MATERIAL To A BEADED BASE PANEL Filed March 24, 1954 4 Sheets Sheet 3 I INVENTOR. V RALPH E. WooDBuRN ATTOPA/E Y.

June 28, 1955 R. E. WOODBURN 2,711,776

MACHINE FOR APPLYING UPHOLSTERY COVER MATERIAL TO A BEADED BASE PANEL Filed March 24, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. RALPH E l Vooaa uglv BY I qr aewEw United States Patent MACHINEFOR APPLYING UP-HOISTERY- cov zn MATERIAL TO; A BEADED BASE NEL Rniph 3. wo dbu n, Sput hfield 'lfownship,

antiwar This invention relates to an improved machine for applying upholstery cover materials to beaded panels s'uich, for iiistaneeas automobile door panels and the like. The present application is a continuation-in-part of my co-pending application Serial No. 316,285, filed on October'22, 1-952ffor Automobile Door Panel and Method and Apparatus for Making Same.

' Designs used for ornamenting'interiors of present automobiles" include panels having beaded or striped portions, which portions: are often provided on separate smaller panels assembled to the interior wails of an automobjle; particularlyin the door panels Provisioii of beaded, panels, or beaded portions for plain panels, connected with considerable manufacfuring diffieultiesf The usual way of providing such beaded portion is to covera panel with a matted 'mate rial, covering the mat with a" suitable upholstery cover material and"st'itehing the matted material to the base of the panel with the use of a sewing machine, thus providing a number of parallel seams thereon. in the process of sewing; the mat is compressed along the seams and is stitched to the cardboard, while the portions of the mat between the seams remain uncompressed and, therefore, extend or bulge. away from the foundation panel andthus' provide appearance ofraised beads.

Another common method of providing such beaded panels 'is to provide/first a cardboard or fiber board base or foundation sheet, and secure to such foundation sheet a number of strips'of similar material, and thereupon covering the! entire panel with an upholstery cloth, with stitching of the cloth to the cardboard along the bottoms the grooves formed between the strips.

Itv has been found, however, that in both of the above described expendients, matting and stitching ofthe panels isa rather,v annoying and expensive. operation not always producing desired results. It has, been appreciated, for instance, that-when stitching is used on panels in which the .cores of the beads are formed by strips of cardboard or similar material, stitching of the material results in its stretching over, Such strips and producing relatively sharp corners which, in turn, causes shallow or flat appearan ceof the panel; moreover, such undesirable stretching oftendistorts the weave or pattern of the upholstery clothor the ornamental design; provided on the m aterial. In addition, the stretehed; condition of the fabric mate l. in h r wer. Cr ate a e dens n e a e to return to itsoriginal unstretched condition, and the material has to, be held in the. grooves by some permanent mans ucha ha e m. s f H r har om of the threads of such a seaim become broken, the materialpulls itself outofthe grooves, destroying the desired appearance. of the, panel.

Attempts have been made v to use. forming dies with i b d; qt as s, w h i s. b n mq t s i t9 Pus u t co e ma er a nt he roo eswa found, however, that such an expedient-is suitable only for producing, panels having, impractieall shallow grooves, since when groovesofi full depth were attempted to be formed with the aid of such dies, the upholstery material is overstretched and broken, or at least so badly distorted as to make such panels unsuitable for use in automobile bodies. It should be appreciated at this point that materials such as fabrics, fabric-base oil cloth, or fabric-base imitation leather, and the like, can be stretched very little and that tensioning them beyond their limit causes breakage, first, of the separate threads and then of the fabric. In this respect fabrics and similar upholstery material are different from many other materials such as sheet metals in which various depressions can be easily stamped in suitable dies. Moreover While metals can be heat-treated to increase their ductility and drawing capacity, this is not possible with fabrics.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved machine whereby the above difficulties and disadvantages are eliminated and covering of beaded panels with upholstery fabric or cloth is done rapidly, efliciently and without overtensioning or breaking the fabric. i 7

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved machine for covering beaded panels with upholstery fabrics or cloth, as well as other materials, which are substantially unstretchable, the application'of such materials to the panels being done in a simple and inexpensive manner, and with the panels so produced presenting full and rich appearance in spite of inexpensive materials that may be used.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved machine of the nature specified above, which machine operates to cementthe upholstery cover material to the foundation sheet at the bottoms of the grooves between the beads, performing such cementing operation and curing the cement in the process of laying or applying the upholstery material to the beads of the panel.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved-method and machine for covering beaded panels with upholstery cloth or fabrics, whereby such fabrics may be applied to panels having grooves of such a depth that use'of any conventional method and ma; chine for such a purpose would be totally impracticable A still further'objectof the present invention is to provide an improved machine for'makingrupholstered panels for automobile doors including beadedporti ons, and particularly for covering such portions with" up-f holstery materials, which machine canbe easily adapted or changed for use on panels having different designs or; arrangement of beads. i ii A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved machine of the nature. specified above and including a plurality of fabric laying? plates having working edgesadapted to push the fabric into the grooves" between the beads, improved cam means being provided to actuate said, plates or blades. 7

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved machine of the nature specified the preceding paragraph, means; being provided to en} sure'that each of thef abric laying panels remains the" groove for a sui'ficient period of 'tirne, butnot longer tharnecessary, e e y, P quirements or he. machine as well as strength. requirements therefor are. greatly decreased.

A still further object of the present invention is to Prov d n mpr machin o the o agin n ure which is simple in construction, safe and dependable; in operationand is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and to service or. repair.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will; be apparent from they following description and, ap.-. pended claims, reference being had to. the accompany ing drawings, forming apart of this specification; wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

Fig. l is an end view of the machine embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side viewof the machine of Fig. 2.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a portion of the machine with the fabric-laying plates, said portion being shown with its parts being in positions for loading the work panel into the machine.

Fig. 4 is a View similar in part to Fig. 3 but showing the fabric-laying plates in the process of their individual movements for pushing the fabric into the grooves, with some plates holding the fabric in the grooves while others are about to start their fabric pushing movement, with one plate on the opposite side already withdrawn from the groove.

Fig. 5 is an end view similar to Fig. l, with portions broken away in order to show one plate with its guiding means and cams.

Fig. 6 is a side view partly in section showing one cam on a larger scale.

Fig. 7 is a view showing diagrammatically the shape and the relative angular offset of the seven sets of cams to produce operation of the plates such as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4.

Fig. 8 is a perspective exploded view illustrating guides for the vertical edges of the plates, and spacers.

I Fig. 9 illustrates an automobile door panel such as may be finished with the aid of the machine disclosed herein.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

In accordance with the invention I provide an improved machine for applying upholstery cover fabrics and similar materials to beaded foundation panels. The machine includes a work table adapted to receive and to locate the work panel with the piece of upholstery cover material being laid thereon. The machine further includes a plurality of plates or blades in a number corresponding to the number of grooves between the beads of the panel to be worked upon. Means are provided to heat eachplate to a predetermined temperature in order to produce embossing action on the panel and to cure the cement with which the upholstery cover fabric may have to be cemented to its foundation panel. In accordance with the invention I provide improved plate actuating means to produce the desired layingin of the upholstery fabric around the beads without breaking the fabric. In accordance with the invention I provide rotary cam means whereby the plates are pushed into the grooves successively one after another, beginning either from one side of the beaded panel and proceeding to the other side thereof, or beginning at the middle of the panel and proceeding toward both sides thereof. The cam means disclosed herein operate to push the fabric into each groove only after the cloth at the adjacent groove is pushed all the way down, whereby the fabric is always free to move from its free end (or ends) toward the groove into which the material is being pushed, with no plate in the groove interfering with such moving of the fabric. In order to decrease the power requirements for the machine as well as the requirement for the strength of its load-carrying members, the cam means are of such a nature as to hold in the grooves at the same time only a limited number of the plates, preferably three, and as the new plates are being pushed into their respective grooves, the plates on the other side are withdrawn front the grooves. Moreover, operation of the plates is made to proceed in two stages After the work panel is loaded thereon.

on the work table, all of the blades aretmovedtoward the panel at the same time and stopped in a position close to the panel, but without touching the same. Further operation of the machine causes each plate to slide individually into and out of the respective groove to effect operation explained above, and to return to such position. Thereupon'all of the plates are returned to their starting position simultaneously or as a unit.

The invention. also contemplates provision of improved guiding means for the plates and improved mechanism for actuating the cams.jThe machine "can be set and reset for panels having difierent arrangement ofbeads'... 3.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the machine illustrated therein" comprises a" frameincluding a base 10 on which there is provided a work table having a working surface 11 adapted to receive the work panel to be operated upon in the machine. Stops such as 12 are provided for locating the panel on the work table. It will be understood that any suitable type of stop means such as blocks, corner stops, pins, and the like may be employed.

A plurality of standards or columns 13 having their lower ends secured in the base 10 support at their upper ends an upper frame generally designated by the numeral 15. The frame 15 supports the plates, the plate-actuating cams with their driving means.

A plurality of plates in a number determined by the number of the grooves between thebeads on the work panel, is provided in an arrangementcorresponding to the arrangement of the grooves on the panel. In the present embodiment 7 plates designated by the numerals 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27 are provided. The vertical edges of the plates are adapted to slide in the slots 28 provided in guide blocks 29, a ,plurality of such blocks being secured to the horizontal members 30 supported by standards 13, see Figs. 1, 2 and 5 and 8. The slots, 28 of the guide blocks 29 are disposed at the same distance from each other as the grooves 31 between the beads 32 of the work panel 33.

The lower portions of the plates 21-27 slide between the spacers 20 having ends secured in guide blocks 29 on both sides of the machines and thus, in effect, form ing long slots in which the lower portions of the plates slide. Instead of a number of spacers such as 20, a single plate specially made for each panel job may be used. I prefer touse spacer since they can be easily changed as the different jobs require.

Means are provided to maintain the plates 21.27 in their fully raised or starting position; In the present embodiment, such means are exemplified by coil' tension springs 34 having their lower ends connected to the plates and their upper ends connected to the support bars 35 which are, in turn, supported by the frame 15.

Means are provided to actuate the plates or to drive them toward the work panel to have their working or lower edges push the upholstery cover cloth into the grooves 31., as is best shown in Figs. 3 and 4. In the present embodiment said means are in the form of a plurality of cams 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 and 47, mounted on a shaft 48. The shaft 48 is slotted with a long slot and provided with a key 49 which is common to all of the cams 4147. The earns are slidable on the shaft for the purposes explained below. lt isl preferable to provide more than one shaft 48 with cams such as 4l47, and in the present embodiment of the machine two such shafts are provided as is best shown in Figs. 1 and 5 in order to have two identical cams operate on a single plate to produce a more balanced application of forces It will be noted that the cams are so arranged and rotate in the directionswhereby the force components acting along the plates tend to put the plates .in tension rather-than to buckle them.

The cycle of movements of individual'iplat'e is determinedby the shape ofin'dividuahcar'ris, while'the'relaw tive movements of the plates with respect to each other to produce the desired sequence of application of the plates to the work panel is achieved by changing the relative angular positions of those portions of the cams which produce individual movements of the cams.

Referring to Figs. and 6, it will be seen that each cam is in the form of a circular body centrally recessed for mounting on the shaft 48 and provided with a relatively large flat 50. It will be noted that flats 50 are provided on each of the cams 4147 in identical angular positions, as is best shown in Fig. 7. Flats 50 provide stops for the plates 21-27 in their upward move ment caused by the springs 34. Thus in the loading position of the parts of the machine such as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, all of the plates 21-27 will be in their uppermost position and away from the work table, thus permitting loading of the work panel thereon.

Means rotating the shafts 48 are in the form of two geartrains each including a large gear 51 meshing with a small gear 52, said small gears 52 being mounted on shafts 53 and meshing with each other. An operating handle 54 is provided on one of the shafts 53 for manual operation of the machine. It will be understood that other means for driving shafts 48 at the same rotative speed may also be provided. For instance, shafts 48 may be connected with the aid of sprocket wheel-andchain drives which, in turn, are driven with the aid of an electric motor.

From an examination of Fig. 1 it will be seen that because of the nature of the gear trains illustrated therein, the large gears 51 will be rotated in opposite directions and therefore the cams on the right hand side of the plate have to be turned around to have their raised portion adjacent the respective ends of the plates, as is shown in Fig. 5. However, in other respects the earns 47 operate in unison. It will be further seen that if shafts 48 are connected with the aid of a sprocket wheel-and-chain drive connecting both of said shafts directly, said shafts will rotate in the same direction and turning around of the cams on the other shaft will not be necessary. However, in such a case means to take the end thrust on the plates may have to be provided.

It will now be seen in view of the foregoing that as the operating handle 54, indicated in Fig. 2 in phantom lines, is rotated to cause rotation of the cams in the di rections indicated by arrows in Fig. 5, all of the cams 41--47 will operate to push their. respective plates 21--27 downwardly, with the end points 41a-47a of their flats 50, causing all of said plates ill-27 to move down as a unit until the points 41a-47a of the cams reach the vertical line passing through the" center of the shaft 48. Thereupon further rotation of the cams would cause the plates 2127 to remain in such position, if it were not for the raised port-ions 61-67 provided on each cam and operating as explained below. Each of said raised portions includes a'pushing down portion, designated on separate cams (Ha-67a, respectively, a circular or uniform radius portion, designated 61b-67b, respectively, and a release portion designated 61c-67c, respectively.

It is important that the portion 6la--67a form a relatively small angle with thecam periphery, such as 30- 45, since larger angles may interfere with operation of the machine. The necessity of holding this angle down imposes restriction on the minimum practicable diameter of the cams with certain depth of the grooves on the work panel.

With reference to Fig. 5, it will now be seen that as thepushing down portion 67a reached thetop edge of the plate 27, it begins to push the plate down causing the working'edge of the plate to force the upholstery cloth material into the groove. The outward radial extent of each raised portion is determined by the depth of the groove, since each of the plates will be moved downwardly from its position at the work panel to the bottom of the groove through a distance determined by the distance through which the raised portion extends beyond the general radius of the circular portion of the cam body. The length or peripheral extent of each of the raised portions determines the duration of the rotative movement of the cam and, therefore, the period of time during which the respective plate will remain in the groove. With a given rotative speed of the shafts 48, and the length of the circular portion of each raised portion, the time period during which the plate will remain in the groove can be easily computed. Such time should be determined on the basis of two considerations, namely, temperature of the plates and its effect on the upholstery material and the cement, and the number of the plates to be held in the grooves at the same time, as explained below.

The raised portions on the individual cams 4147 are angularly offset with respect to each other in such a manner as to produce a desired sequence of operation of the plates. In accordance with the invention, I prefer to have the plates start from one end of the work panel, the lefthand end thereof in the embodiment illustrated, and move downwardly one after another toward the righthand side of the panel. For operating on a work panel, the same is placed on the work table against the stops, and the upholstery cover cloth is placed on'the top of the panel. The cloth may be connected to the panel along the edge adjacent the plate which is to move in first. If operation of the plates begins from the rniddle of the plate group, said upholstery cover cloth may be secured along the line of the bead into which the middle plate will push in the fabric first. In Figs; 3 and 4 the upholstery cover cloth 70 is shown connected to the panel base as at 71, of the work panel 33.

In accordance with the invention, in order to decrease the total pressure necessary to hold the plates in the grooves, and therefore the power required to drive the machine, the cam means are adapted to hold only a limited number of plates in the grooves at the same time and to release plates on the opposite side as more plates are moved down. I prefer to have three plates actuating downwardly at the same time. This feature is best illustrated in Fig. 4, wherein plates 21, 22 and 23 are still being held down near the groove after having been withdrawn therefrom, while the plates 24, 25 and 26 are actuated downwardly by virtue of their upper edges being in contact with the raised portions 62, 63 and 64. Movement of the plate 26 is just beginning.- The movement of the plate 24 downwardly begins only after the plate 24 is all the way down in the groove, in consequence whereof the cover upholstery cloth 70 is free to move toward the left as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4. As the plate 25 moves down, there is no interference from the plates 26 and 27 with such movement of the fabric 70. On the other hand, as the plate 25 is moved down, the plate 21 is being released. By virtue of such an operation the pressure required to hold plates down in the grooves is considerably decreased thus decreasing the requirements for the strength of the machine and for the power required to operate it.

It will be noted that each of the plates 21-27 is released from the groove back into its position at the work panel by virtue of its raised position running off the edge of the respective plate. However, after being released from the groove each of the peaks is still held at the position near the work plate, until the opposite ends 41b47b of the flats of all of the cams reach the plates. This happens simultaneously and, therefore, all of the plates 21-27 move upwardly as a unit into their positions such as shown in Figs. 3 and 5.

Thus, the machine provides a multiple-stage operation of the plates. First, they move as a unit down to the work panel. Thereupon, the individual plates start moving successively into the grooves to push the cloth therein and be released in a similar manner on the other side of the plate group back into the position at the work panel. Thereupon, all of the plates are released and are moved into their uppermost or starting position, all of them returning therein as a unit.

Each of the plates 2127 is provided with electrical heating means such as 73, adapted to maintain the plates at a predetermined temperature. Heating of the plates operates to impart a more permanent shape to the beads by hot embossing the grooves. If cement is applied to the grooves of the foundation panel, application of hot plates to the fabric operates to cure the cement and to give a more permanent connection between the foundation panel and the upholstery cover cloth.

As mentioned above, the cams 4147 can be moved along the shaft 48 to be arranged at different distances from each other. By virtue of such an expedient the machine can be easily reset for operating on panels having different arrangements of beads and grooves. In order to reset the machine, the guide block holding screws 75, see Fig. 2, are loosened up and the guide blocks 29 removed. Thereupon, a new set of guide blocks having slots at different distances is installed in the machine by connecting them to the members 30, and the corresponding number of plates is inserted into such slots. It will be understood that the plates are free to be shifted along their supporting bars 35. within the planes of the guide slots, and the springs and the plates are arranged accordingly, the machine is now ready for a new job.

It will be understood that some of the cams may be pushed to one side of the respective shafts 49 and remain inactive if a smaller number of cams is necessary for a particular job, or more cams may be added to satisfy particular requirements. It will be noted that each of the cams may be provided with two retaining beads 76 thus causing the upper edge of the plate to'remain constantly within the groove formed between such retaining plates by such retaining walls.

It will be understood that the above described method of effecting the sequence of operation of the plates to have all of said plates move together as a unit to the work panel, and thereupon enter the groove successively one by one, and be released successively from the other side, with only a limited number, preferably three of the plates remaining in the grooves, can be carried out by a machine having other plate actuating means than cam means described above. Such means may be mechanical, hydraulic or be of other suitable types to give the desired sequence of plate operation.

By virtue of the above disclosed machine the objects of the present invention listed above and numerous additional advantages are attained.

I claim:

1. A machine for applying upholstery cover material to a beaded base panel, said machine comprising a work table adapted to receive a work panel with the cover material placed thereon, locating means for locating said panel in position on the work table, a plurality of plates arranged adjacently said work table and individually slidable toward and away from the work table, said plates having working edges adapted to push the upholstery cover material into the grooves of the panel between the beads, resilient means holding said plates away from the work table, and rotary cam means adapted to drive said plates in opposition to said resilient means toward said work table to have the working edges of the plates push the upholstery cover material into the grooves.

2. A machine for applying upholstery cover material to a beaded base panel, said machine comprising a Work table adapted to receive a work panel and to locate the same in position, a plurality of plates arranged substantially perpendicularly to the plane of the work table, said plates being adapted to slide individually through a range of travel in the planes passing through the bead grooves of the work panel when the same is located in position on the work table, said plates having working When the cams are arranged edges adapted to push the upholstery cover material into the grooves of the panel between the beads, rotary cam means adapted to drive said plates toward the work table to have the working edges push the upholstery cover material into the grooves and resilient means returning said plates to their starting positions. 7

3. A machine for applying upholstery cover material to a beaded base panel, said machine comprising a work table adapted to receive a work panel with the cover material placed thereon, locating means for locating said panel in position on the work table, a plurality of plates arranged adjacently said work table and individually slidable toward and away therefrom, said plates having working edges adapted to push the upholstery cover material into the grooves of the panel between the beads, resilient means holding said plates away from the work table, and rotary cam means adapted to drive said plates in opposition to said resilient means toward said work table to have the working edges of the plates push the upholstery cover material into the grooves, said rotary cam means being adapted to operate one after another to have one plate push the material substantially all the way into the groove before the next adjacent plate begins to push the material into the respective adjacent groove.

4. A machine for applying upholstery cover material to a beaded base panel, said machine comprising a work table adapted to receive a work panel with the cover material placed thereon, locating means for locating said panel in position on the work table, a plurality of plates arranged adjacently said work table and individually slidable toward and away therefrom, said plates having working edges adapted to push the upholstery cover material into the grooves of the panel between the beads thereof, resilient means holding said plates away from the Work table, rotary cam means adapted to drive said plates in opposition to said resilient means toward said work table to have the working edges of the plates push the upholstery cover material into the grooves, said rotary cam means being adapted to operate one after another to have one plate push the material substantially all the way into the groove before the next adjacent plate begins to push the material into the respective adjacent groove, said cam means being further adapted to hold each of said plates in its respective groove for a period of time.

5. A machine for applying upholstery cover material to a beaded base panel, said machine comprising a work table adapted to receive a work panel with the cover material placed thereon, locating means for locating said panel in position on the work table, a plurality of plates arranged adjacently said work table and individually slidable toward and away therefrom, said plates having working edges adapted to push the upholstery cover material into the grooves of the panel between the beads thereof, resilient means holding said plates away from the work table, and rotary cam means adapted to drive said plates in opposition to said resilient means toward said work table to have the working edges of the plates push the upholstery cover material into the grooves, said rotary cam means being adapted to operate one after another to have one plate push the upholstery cover material substantially all the way into its respective groove before the next adjacent plate begins to push the material into the next adjacent groove, said cam means being further adapted to hold each of said plates in its respective groove for a period of time and to release each of said plates for its withdrawal from its respective groove only after at least one of its adjacent plates on the other side is all the way into the groove.

6. A machine for applying upholstery cover material to a beaded base panel, said machine comprising a work table adapted to receive a work panel with the upholstery cover material placed thereon, locating means for locating said panel in position on the work table, a plurality of plates arranged adjacently said work table and-slidable toward and away from the work table, said plates having working edges adapted to push the upholstery cover material into the grooves of the panel between the beads thereof, resilient means holding said plates away from the work table, androtary cam means adapted to drive said plates as a unit in opposition to said res-ilient means toward said work table to have the working edges in positions adjacent said grooves and thereupon to drive each plate individually to have its working edge push the upholstery cover material into its respective groove, said rotary cam means being adapted in driving said plates individually to operate one after another to have one plate push the upholstery cover material substantially all the way into its respective groove before the next adjacent plate begins to push the material into its respective groove, said cam means being further adapted to hold each of said plates in its respective groove for a period of time and to release each of said plates for its withdrawal from its respective groove into the position adjacent the groove only after three of its adjacent plates on the other side are all the way into their respective grooves, and releasing all of said plates substantially simultaneously for removal into their starting position as a unit.

7. A machine for applying upholstery cover material to a beaded base panel, said machine comprising a work table adapted to receive a work panel with the cover material placed thereon, locating means for locating said panel in position on the work table, a plurality of plates arranged adjacently said work table and individually slidable toward and away from the work table, said plates having working edges adapted to push the upholstery cover material into the grooves of the panel between the beads, resilient means holding said plates away from the work table, and rotary cam means adapted to drive said plates in opposition to said resilient means toward said work table to have the working edges of the plates push the upholstery cover material into the grooves, said rotary cam means comprising a corresponding plurality of circular cams with each of said cams comprising a circular body rotatable around its center and having a flat provided thereon determining the length of the travel of the respective plate from its extreme position away from the work table to its position at the work panel but before entering the groove, and a portion on the cam body extending beyond the circle of the cam for a distance eifective to cause the cam to push its respective plate all the way into its respective groove.

8. A machine for applying upholstery cover material to a beaded base panel, said machine comprising a work table adapted to receive a work panel with the cover material placed thereon, locating means for locating said panel in position on the work table, a plurality of plates arranged adjacently said work table and individually slidable toward and away from the work table, said plates having working edges adapted to push the upholstery cover material into the grooves of the panel between the beads, resilient means holding said plates away from the work table, and rotary cam means adapted to drive said plates in opposition to said resilient means toward said work table to have the working edges of the plates push the upholstery cover material into the grooves, said rotary cam means comprising a corresponding plurality of circular cams, with each of said cams comprising a body having a flat provided thereon determining the length of the travel of the respective plate from its extreme position away from the work table to its position at the work panel but before entering the groove, and a raised portion extending beyond the general contour of the cam body for a distance to cause the cam to push the plate into its groove, with said raised portion including circular portion to extend the period of time during which the plate is held in its groove.

9. A machine for applying upholstery cover material 10 to a beaded base panel, said machine comprising a work table adapted to receive a work panel with the cover inaterial placed thereon, locating means for locating said panel in position on the work table, a plurality of plates arranged adjacently said work table and individually slidable toward and away from the work table, said plates having working edges adapted to push the upholstery cover material into the grooves of the panel between the beads, spring means holding said plates away from the work table, and rotary cam means adapted to drive said plates in opposition to said spring means toward said work table to have the working edges of the plates push the upholstery cover material into the grooves, said rotary cam means comprising a corresponding plurality of circular cams, with each of said cams having a flat provided thereon to determine period of travel of the respective plate from its extreme position away from the work table to its position at the work panel but before entering the groove, and a raised portion extending above the circle of the cam for a distance to cause the cam to push the plate into its groove, said raised portion including a circular portion to extend the period of time during which the plate is held in its groove, said raised portion rising from the circular portion of the cam and returning theret0.

10. A machine for applying upholstery cover material to a beaded base panel, said machine comprising a work table adapted to receive a work panel with the cover material placed thereon, locating means for locating said panel in position on the work table, a plurality of plates arranged adjacently said work table and individually slidable toward and away from the work table, said plates having working edges adapted to push the upholstery cover material into the grooves of the panel between the beads, spring means holding said plates away from the work table, and rotary cam means adapted to drive said plates in opposition to said spring means toward said work table to have the working edges of the plates push the upholstery cover material into the grooves, said rotary cam means including a corresponding plurality of sets of circular cams, at least two cams in each set for each of the plates, said cams being shaped to produce movement of the plates as a unit from their starting positions to the work panel but at a distance therefrom, and thereupon to produce movements of individual plates into the groove one after another and to release the individual plates from the groove first into said position at the panel, and thereupon to release all of the plates simultaneously for movement all the way to their starting position, the cams of each set of two operating in substantially identical angular position, the successive movements of the cams into and out of the grooves being effected by cams of different sets being oifset angularly.

11. A machine for applying upholstery cover material to a beaded base panel, said machine comprising a work table adapted to receive a work panel with the cover material placed thereon, locating means for locating said panel in position on the work table, a plurality of plates arranged adjacently said work table and individually slidable toward and away from the work table, said plates having working edges adapted to push the upholstery cover material into the grooves of the panel between the beads, spring means holding said plates away from the work table, and rotary cam means adapted to drive said plates in opposition to said spring means toward said work table to have the working edges of the plates push the upholstery cover material into the grooves, said rotary cam means including a corresponding plurality of sets of circular cam bodies, two in each set for each of the plates, said cam bodies being shaped to produce movement of the respective plates as a unit from their starting positions to a position of the work panel and thereupon individually into the grooves, and to release each plate individually first from the groove into position at the panel, and to release all of the plates for movement as a unit into their starting position, the cams of each set operating in substantially identical angular position, with cams of different sets being so oifset angularly that in the process of their individual movements the plates are actuated successively, one after the other, to have one plate push the upholstery cover material substantially all the way into its respective groove before the next adjacent plate begins to push the material into the next adjacent groove, and to release the plates successively from the opposite side, holding only a portion of the total number of plates in their respective grooves.

12. The machine defined in claim 11 and including removable guiding means for said plates for selectively constraining each plate for movements within a desired plane, with said cams being adjustable to corresponding positions.

13. The machine defined in claim 11 and including electric heating means for each of said plates, and driv- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,150,030 Haberstump Mar. 7, 1939 2,236,968 Cunnington Apr. 1, 1941 2,620,014 Lijijynen Dec. 2, 1952- 

